A BASINGSTOKE businessman, accused of taking dozens of customers to court, was the focus of an episode of the BBC’s Inside Out programme.

Presenter Jon Cuthill was in Basingstoke for the Monday night show when he exposed Richard Wood.

Mr Cuthill spoke to customers of Hampshire Garden Furniture, including Cheryl Squibb from Basingstoke, who came across the company at a show in Birmingham, where she said she signed up to have a survey in return for a massive discount on a summer house she was hoping to buy.

She told Inside Out: “I just wanted to know a bit more about them and was advised that a site survey would be done.

"I was asked to sign a document for the survey and to secure the discount.”

Unfortunately, the 56-year-old was unable to keep the appointment because her grandson fell ill will meningitis, so she cancelled with a view to rebooking.

But Mrs Squibb, from Hatch Warren, was shocked when she received a letter informing her she had signed a contract and was liable to pay.

Mr Wood, whose warehouse is in Andover, took her to court, and produced a document with her signature on it.

The court ruled in his favour, and Mrs Squibb was ordered to pay £6,800 to Mr Wood for his loss of earnings.

She told Mr Cuthill she had no idea how her signature had come to be on a contract.

Mr Wood refused an interview with Inside Out, but told the programme makers that he had taken “only 90 people to court over the last 10 years”.

However, he told The Gazette that the figure was actually 79 in 10 years, of which 57 were customers.

The programme claimed Mr Wood misled his customers as to what they were signing up for, and they spoke to other similar sized businesses who said they had never taken any customers to court.

Mr Wood did admit that he had worked with Trading Standards to make his contract clearer.